BNP terms raid on Khaleda’s office a provocation
Abdur Rahman Khan
Last week’s raid on Gulshan office of BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has boiled the summer politics in Bangladesh with the party reacting sharply terming it a conspiracy against democracy in the country.
A section of BNP leaders think that the Awami League government once again is trying to keep BNP out of the elections by means of provocation, and the raiding the party office is part of that strategy.
‘Its nasty politics’: Khaleda
Police raided the BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office on Saturday with a search warrant issued by court acting upon a General Diary filed with police by an unidentified person. It was alleged that the ex-prime minister’s office may have a treasure of hidden and formidable materials that may be used in anti-state and anti-government activities.
Police broke into the office, unlocked the rooms, ransacked papers and other belongings and videoed the inside but detected nothing to justify the sudden raid or anything to share with the media.
BNP leaders described the raid as the government’s yet another bid to vandalize the opposition leader in every possible way to try to weaken the BNP, especially ahead of the next parliamentary election in late next year or early 2019.
Meanwhile, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in her twitter on Sunday said, “Using police to raid opposition party office without any cause is exactly the kind of nasty politics we want to remove from the country.”
Immediately after the raid, BNP leaders including party’s secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir denounced the move and demanded resignation of Home Minister. Terming the incident ‘illegal’, Fakhrul also said that the raid proved ‘absence of democracy’ in the country.
BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed said the government has become desperate, and not liking a healthy politics in Bangladesh. He also said that the government is again planning to hold the next polls unilaterally.
The main motive behind the raid is to keep BNP away from the polls and harm the country’s democratic environment, Moudud added.
Democracy maligned
Another standing committee member Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain pointedly said that the drive is a conspiracy of the government to pressurise BNP chairperson and to demoralize the party men. However, it had an opposite reaction and the government is now embarrassed, he added.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir meanwhile at a press conference on Sunday said the aggression at a time when the BNP begins the notion of exercising peaceful democratic practices and presented Vision 2030, is a provocation and a conspiracy to destroy democratic future.
Supreme Court Bar Association president and BNP vice chairman Joynal Abedin during the press conference also quoted Sections 96 and 103 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and said the police raid was not conducted as per these sections. “So, it is illegal.”
The secretary of Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujon) Badiul Alam Majumdar said it is unfortunate that such a drive was conducted at the office of a political party chief, who was also elected as prime minister thrice. Now the role of intelligence and the law enforcement agencies are in question, he added.
The grassroots BNP leaders’ view that the raid was conducted to thwart the high morale of the party which had been boosted by chairperson Khaleda Zia’s the recent Vision 2030.
Ruling party’s reaction
Witnessing an adverse public reaction the ruling Awami League (AL) was trying to explain that the raid on Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office was not politically motivated.
The government has nothing to achieve politically through the raid. It was conducted by law enforcing agencies under a court order.
Apparently embarrassed by the adverse reactions, Awami Leagvue general Secretay and Minister Obaidul Quader on Sunday said the law enforcers raided BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office based on intelligence information.
He said, “I have talked with Home Minister and Inspector General of Police (IGP) about the sudden raid at Khaleda’s office. They have said that the drive was carried out based on intelligence information.”
In response to Fakhrul’s speech, Quader said, “Awami League office was repeatedly attacked and AL leaders and activists were tortured during the time when BNP was in power. Have they forgotten about it? Where was democracy then?”
Protest meeting disallowed
BNP on Sunday observed countrywide demonstrations protesting the police raid on the party chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office on Saturday.
BNP also wanted to hold a protest rally at City’s Suhrawrdi Uddyan on Wednesday but as it happened many times before, the metropolitan police authorities did not grant permission.
According to the reports, police barred the party men from holding the demonstrations in 12 districts of the country on Sunday. Several activists and leaders of the party were injured in clashes with police in different districts including Dhaka, Jhalakathi, Faridpur, Pabna, and Barisal.
As BNP was not allowed to hold the protest rally at Suhrawardi Uddyan on Wednesday, the party announced a countrywide demonstration for Thursday. However, as usually happened with BNP, police foiled its demonstrations and rallies in different districts and in the process many of their workers were injured, some seriously.
In Faridpur, police arrested at least five leaders and workers of the party as while they were demonstrating at Adalat Para in the district town as part of their countrywide demonstration program.
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